Doors

Doors are wonderful things. They protect us from bugs, varmints, weather, and thugs. They keep little children and animals from wandering outside unattended. They also seem to confuse some folks.
Have you ever needed to run into a store (Wal-Mart or Target, for example) to pick up a couple of things? You have your plan mapped out before you get out of your car. You follow someone else through the door and.......SCREECH!!! That person, or group, comes to a dead halt! Just inside the door! They look around in a daze as if they've never been to such a place before. A look of awe and wonder crosses their face. Add you can't get around them! No matter how hard you try, that person/group gets w i d e r and w i d e r! You're stuck until they decide to take a couple of steps. It's even worse at Christmas. You are at the mercy of the awestruck at every mall or store. Even the local Quickie Mart! All you want is a Diet Coke and you have to turn into a linebacker to get in the door! Arggghhhh!
Elevators, another great invention, have doors. When the doors open, those wanting to get in should wait until those wanting to get off leave. That makes sense. NOPE! Those wanting to get in push their way in leaving those wanting to get off working like a salmon swimming upstream to get out! It's not like the doors will close on you! There's an electric eye that prevents anyone from getting squashed by the door. There's also a "door open" button on the inside that some nice person will push to hold the door open. It's just manners!
When I was growing up, everyone was welcome at our house. "The door is always open" is something that Ma and Pop believed in. For years, the back door was never locked. The 'fridge door was there for anyone to get what they wanted. One morning, one of Russ' friends was taking inventory in the 'fridge. Ma and her mom, who we called Mama, were sitting at the dining room table. Without looking up from the paper, Ma said "Get what you want, get out, and shut the door!". Mama told her that she might want to see who she was yelling at before she said anything, "That one's not yours!". Ma said that any kid who came through her door was "hers" and she treated all of us the same. Years later, even if it's just once a year, some of "hers" still stop by to see her. The door is always open.